Of Sleepless Nights and Shadows
by Minu Dooey
Summary: A heavy set, muscular creature hunched in the corner, frothing at the mouth as it stared at him. It clawed the ground and grinned with crooked teeth, blank eyes boring holes into him. The smell of blood clouded his senses. Rated T just in case, again.


He watched as the shadows danced before his eyes, twisting and turning into creatures that crept around him. One darted across the bed, pausing briefly to stare at him. Another hovered near his face before hiding itself under his bed. Sitting in the corner was a particularly menacing looking creature, saliva dripping out of its mouth as it watched him longingly, clawing the wood with its sharp claws. 

And he continued to watch, grown accustomed to the slight insanity of sleepless nights. The nights used to seem long, but he managed fine. He found them as a time to focus his thoughts; Rarely did he have a spare moment during the day to step back and let time flow without him.

A creature twirled in the middle of the room momentarily before sinking into the shadows again. He turned his gaze back to the bed, staring at the black serpent easing towards his head.

They wouldn't hurt him. They tried. They wanted to.

They couldn't.

He glanced out the window, estimating there was another three or four hours before the sun would rise. A breeze ruffled the curtain and sent a creature scurrying to get out of the moonlight.

When he was younger, he would've been horrified of the creatures, and insisted the light was left on (For a shadow creature couldn't exist where there was no shadows). However, they kept him at ease. An odd thought, as some of the shadows would easily outmatch him due to their immense teeth and claws.

If they could hurt him.

He rolled over onto his side, shuddering as a shadow crawled onto his back and came to rest on his shoulder. It grinned at him, cocking its head to the side. With a giggle (Though he later wondered if he had imagined the laughter) it stretched out onto his head.

"Get off me." He grumbled, raising a hand to shoo the creature away.

Another giggle and the creature had vanished into the shadows. He sighed and rolled onto his back again, staring up at the ceiling. A large creature loomed over him, its cloak-like figure billowing as it stood.

He watched the figure for awhile, then pulled the covers closer to his chin. Something about such a big, black thing hovering over you did creep him out. Not like he'd ever admit it.

No, these creatures were kept to himself. Perhaps if someone ever brought it up, he would considering talking about them. But it was never brought up, and he wouldn't bring them up himself.

He laughed out loud. Oh, he could picture himself now. Yes sir, during the night the shadows come to life and prance around the room willy nilly. Would you like me to check in to an asylum now, sir?

The creature in the corner breathed heavily, a wheezing rasp similar to fingernails on a chalk board.

Laughing again, he looked out the window. Not much time had passed. The shadow looming over him melted back into the shadows, reaching towards him with a bony hand before disappearing completely.

This was going to be a long night.

Sure, he was used to it by now. It was better than the alternative. So long as he understood the shadows couldn't hurt him, he would be fine. They kept him company. They might have whispered mangled death threats, but they still kept him company.

He didn't dare bother his brother for company. He had some pride to keep grasp of, and was fine with his brother going blissfully unaware of these things. Maybe it was for the better.

A small shadow, about the size of a chicken, walked up to the creature in the corner and cocked its head. It cooed. In the blink of an eye, the wheezing, frothing shadow struck it with a heavy paw, crushing it to nothing.

He tightened his grip on the covers. He smelled blood. His stomach was churning as he attempted to reason with himself. Shadows didn't contain blood. Shadows were the lack of light. Light was energy. There was no blood.

But he smelled it. It was strong, flooding his senses. The creature in the corner shifted its huge shoulders, and he realized it was staring at him with blank eyes.

Something whimpered. The creature grinned, and pointed at him with a claw that dripped blood--Black blood. A snake-like tongue poked out through crooked teeth.

He pulled the covers over his face, telling himself not to pay attention. But even though the covers, he could feel the creature boring its way through, watching him. Cautiously peeking out from under the covers, he bit his tongue. The creature was closer.

How much longer until day? An hour? Two? Three? A hysterical giggle escaped his mouth. A three hour stare down with a shadow. No sleep.

He was only vaguely aware of the shadows that had curled up on his bed, twisting long, whip tails around his neck. They couldn't hurt him.

The wind rustled the curtains. A grin spread on his face. Across the length of the floor, from the window, was a strip of moonlight. He was on one side, the frothing creature on the other.

The creature couldn't get to him if it wanted to. Not right now, at least.

He stared at the creature's empty eyes until the sun flooded the room with light. Each of the creatures disappeared, and he finally dozed off.

Sometime later, he woke up to the chidings of a familiar voice,

"Ed, if you don't get up soon we're going to miss the train. You think the Colonel would be happy about tha..." Al trailed off. "You okay? You look tired..."

Ed smiled briefly. "I was up late; I'll sleep on the train."

* * *

Something inspired by my imagination running wild when I try to sleep. Of course, they aren't nearly as vivid, but they do manage to creep me out. -chuckle- Part of this was also based on things I've seen a lot of with FMA fanfiction: Sleepless nights. Yes, I purposely didn't put name to Ed until the end. A bit of a stylistic thing, hmm? I like having people wonder about who the character is. I'd appreciate it if you reviewed. : ) Hope you enjoyed it!  



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